Scientist: Latest Eruption Much more Powerful than Friday's

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Scientist: Latest Eruption Much more Powerful than Friday's

The eruption early Sunday morning. Photo: Sveinbjörn Steinþórsson/University of Iceland.

“This eruption is much more powerful than the one on Friday night,” University of Iceland technician Sveinbjörn Steinþórsson, who also saw Friday morning's eruption, told mbl.is this morning.

He inspected the eruption along with other scientists this morning. “The lava spews 20 to 30 meters up [65 to 100 feet], and there are no explosions. The lava is coming up in exactly the same place as in Friday morning's eruption, except that the fissure now goes 700-800 meters further to the north [about half a mile]. The fissure is now out of the old Holuhraun lava, into the sand to the north. Now the lava flow is much greater than on Friday. The activity is steady on a 1.2-km crack, but one crater stands alone to the south,” he said.

The scientists left the area at 8:00 am this morning. The wind has increased and there is a sandstorm in the area. The forecast is for worse weather later on Sunday.